The route 2011

Charleroi: a land of cycling, passion and hope
Charleroi’s enthusiasm for cycling has existed for a very long time. The biggest city in Wallonia and the third largest in Belgium (200, 000 inhabitants) has great respect for cycling and the slaves to roads. The Tour de France, the Tour of Italy, the Grand Prix de Wallonie and the Flèche Wallonne have all written pages of their history here. This is undoubtedly because one day the Carolos (the nickname for the Caroloregiens, as the inhabitants of Charleroi are known) caught the cycling bug and the tradition still exists today. The pioneers of the race, Pino Cerami and Ferdinand Bracke can be satisfied. Young talented cyclists are beginning to appear, who will thus ensure the continuity of cycling in Charleroi. By hosting the Flèche Wallone, it is also a way of paying a well-deserved tribute to them.

To the site of Charleroi

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Huy: the wall, a summit in itself!

AS one of the main tourist centres in the Meuse basin,
Huy boasts many natural treasures and can be proud of its rich heritage.
In the town centre, colourful terraces, eye-catching shops, shady parks
and lively pedestrian streets are an invitation to enjoy a taste of the
town’s warmth. Festive, cultural and sporty, Huy boasts a remarkable
calendar of events. The Condroz-Huy Rally, the fair on 15th August, many
festivals and exhibitions, as well as the end of year festivities
focused around the open air ice rink at Grand-Place punctuate the year,
just like the Flèche Wallonne, whose finishing line set up residence
here in 1984; to the utmost delight of thousands of cycling enthusiasts,
but to the dread of the pack, condemned to suffer in order to tame the
19% gradient of the famous Mur de Huy (wall of Huy) climb.

To the site of Huy

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